Strangers Donate Breast Milk After Mom Of Six Dies Leaving A Newborn Behind

When Megan Richards gave birth to her youngest child Myles, she had plans of breastfeeding him until his first birthday. Unfortunately, the mom-of-six died last month due to complications from Covid-19.

Now, the grieving husband and the rest of Richards' family is trying to fulfill her wish by collecting donations of breast milk, according to Good Morning America.

"It was one of the things that she wanted the most for the baby, and it was important to her, so it was important to me," said husband Michael Richards. "Even when she got sick and I was trying to keep her in bed, and just try to get her to rest, I talked to her about it maybe being time to stop pumping -- she'd been pumping to be able to feed him with a bottle -- and she refused."

Michael then shared the story with their local Fox 4 station in Missouri, because he wanted to feed Myles with breastmilk and strangers rallied together to help the single father out. "The first donation that we received came from a woman named Megan," said Megan Richards' sister, Brittany Eppenauer. "It's overwhelming to know that other moms care that much, to make sure that we can fulfill my sister's wishes."

Since her death on Nov. 15, the family has received over 300 e-mails and around 400 oz. of breast milk, plus a donated freezer to store it all. Megan "was a perfect mother," Michael said. "Everything she did was for the kids."

Around Nov. 9, the kids got sick first, and then passed on the virus to the parents. Michael and most of the kids recovered quickly, but Megan—who was unvaccinated— took time to get better, and so did baby Myles.

"She was still breastfeeding. So [I was] trying to get her to stay in bed. And rest was difficult because she just wanted to do everything," Michael said. "But I think it was three or four days from her positive test, she started to get really sick."

The newborn's condition deteriorated at first, but it got better. However, the mother's health just kept getting worse. Megan told Michael she needed to go to the hospital, but he found her passed out on the living room floor as he called 911. "It was scary. I couldn't get her to wake up and she wouldn't answer me, and I didn't know what to do," he said.

Even at the hospital Michael was told that her health was deteriorating. When he got to the hospital, they were performing CPR on Megan as her heart struggled to keep up, and she died later that day at age 32.

Now, the family is trying to raise awareness on the importance of vaccination against the deadly virus. "I regret that I didn't push her to get it," he said.